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DIY Dance bag with racks

So I’ve mentioned this kind of bag before. The most popular one is the Dream Duffel. These are large duffels – around 26-32″ – & they have racks that you can pull out so that you can hang your dancer’s costumes.

I almost purchased one because with four girls, we’re going to have 56484598 recital costumes. I just really didn’t feel like spending $200 on a bag. I did find one for $108 but it was boring gray & not cute so I went on a search to make my own.

I found this blog on how this dance mom made hers. You can find it here. I mostly followed what she did but had some changes so I will give you guys my instructions as well 🙂

First you will need a large duffel bag. I purchased mine from Amazon. Here’s the exact bag I purchased. Our dance studio’s colors are mainly black & red so this was perfect. But there are other choices. This is a 30″ bag & it might be a little large for just one dancer but it will all just depend on how many dances there are. I believe the Dream Duffel is a 26″ bag so a little smaller than what I wanted. This bag cost me $26!!!

So here’s what else you will need:

1 – 10′ (1/2″) PVC pipe

1 – 5′ (1/2″) PVC pipe

6 – 1/2″ PVC elbow fittings

2 – 1/2″ PVC 90-degree (T)

4 – 1/2″ PVC coupling

Duct tape

Spray paint

Some type of saw to cut the PVC pipes

& that’s it.

I spent about $10 on the PVC at Lowe’s. Duct tape was a few dollars at WalMart. I already had the spray paint but you can get them as low as $1 at WalMart.

So I would say this project cost me around $40!!! Definitely better than $200. Even $100.

Okay. So first you will need cut your PVC pipes. If you’re getting the exact same bag, just follow my exact measurements. If you’re getting a different bag, you’ll have to measure the inside & cut accordingly.

You will need:

3 – 20″

4 – 18″

2 – 12″

4 – 4″

What I did first was just put it all together outside of the bag.

Place 2 of the 20″ pieces parallel to each other & stick 4 of the elbow fittings on each of the ends.

Then stick the 4 of the 4″ pieces on the other ends of the elbow fittings.

Now connect the 2 pieces with the 90-degree fittings.

Stick the 12″ pieces on the top of the 90-degree fittings.

Place the couplings on top of the 12″ pieces you just places.

Stick the 18″ pieces on each side.

Place more couplings & do the 18″ pieces again.

Place the remaining elbow fittings on top of those.

& stick the remaining 20″ on the very top connecting everything.

& you’re done.

Now before you decorate. Make sure the bottom piece will fit in the bottom of the bag. You might have to shorten the length if you have a smaller bag or if the wheels get in the way.

The way I “decorated” my pipes was with just some duct tape. You can spray paint the entire thing but I figured it would scrape off especially on the top where the hangers will be. I did spray paint the elbow, 90-degree, & couplings. Also, when you duct tape, make sure to not duct tap all the way to the ends or else the fittings won’t go on.

Here comes the hard part. & this is the only hard part. If you have the same bag as I do (& maybe other bags will be similar if they have that retracting handle), you’re going to put the base underneath the metal part where the handle is. This was a pain in the butt. There’s not a lot of room to work with so you might need another person to kind of pull those up while you stick the pipes underneath & construct it in there.

I was going to glue the base together since that is the part that will not be taken apart but once I had it in there, I was not about to take it out & I don’t believe it’s going anywhere. It’s pretty snug.

The bottom of the vertical part I will leave in at all times. The bag zips just fine with those still attached & that way I won’t have to search for the very bottom of the base when all of the costumes & things are in the bag.

I do have a little advice if spray painting. I’m not sure exactly the best way to avoid this but when I sprayed the fittings, I obviously got some paint on the inside & it’s a little harder to take apart. It doesn’t just slide on & off as easily. I’m hoping that with time all of the paint will kind of wear of on the inside & it’ll be a little easier but it’s not a huge deal for me. So I don’t know, if spray painting everything, I probably wouldn’t spray paint the very ends & maybe stick a paper towel inside the fittings.

Alli,
The duffle itself has been amazing. It’s very large and has no problem holding the 37543492 costumes my girls have. The “racks” are holding up well but I will say that I tried to put 20 costumes on them and it was falling over. So if you have just a few costumes to hang up, it would be fine but if you have over 15 (I’d say), expect it to start leaning.